The Daily Audio Bible

Furnishings of the Temple

4 Then ^(A)he made a bronze altar, ^[a]twenty cubits in length, ^[b]twenty cubits in width, and ^[c]ten cubits in height. ^2 (B)He also made the ^[d]Sea of cast metal, ^[e]ten cubits from brim to brim, circular in form, and its height was ^[f]five cubits and ^[g]its circumference ^[h]thirty cubits. ³ Now figures like oxen were under it and all around it, ^[i]ten cubits, entirely encircling the Sea. The oxen were in two rows, cast ^[j]in one piece. ⁴ It was standing on twelve oxen, three facing north, three facing west, three facing south, and three facing east; and the Sea was set on top of them and all their hindquarters turned inward. ⁵ It was a ^[k]hand width thick, and its brim was made like the brim of a cup, like a lily blossom; it ^(C)could hold three thousand ^[l]baths. ^6 (D)He also made ten basins in which to wash, and he set five on the right side and five on the left ^[m]to rinse things for the burnt offering; but the Sea was for the priests to wash in.

⁷ Then ^(E)he made the ten golden lampstands in the way prescribed for them, and he set them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. ⁸ He also made ^(F)ten tables and placed them in the temple, five on the right side and five on the left. And he made a hundred golden bowls. ⁹ Then he made ^(G)the courtyard of the priests and ^(H)the great courtyard, and doors for the courtyard, and overlaid their doors with bronze. ^10 (I)He put the Sea on the right side of the house toward the southeast.

^11 (J)Huram also made the pails, the shovels, and the bowls. So Huram finished the work that he did for King Solomon in the house of God: ¹² the two pillars, the bowls and the two capitals on top of the pillars, and the two latticeworks to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on top of the pillars, ¹³ and ^(K)the four hundred pomegranates for the two latticeworks, two rows of pomegranates for each latticework to cover the two bowls of the capitals which were on the pillars. ^14 (L)He also made the stands and he made the basins on the stands, ¹⁵ and the one Sea with the twelve oxen under it. ¹⁶ The pails, the shovels, the forks, and all its utensils, ^(M)Huram-abi made of polished bronze for King Solomon, for the house of the Lord. ¹⁷ On the plain of the Jordan the king cast them in the clay ground between Succoth and Zeredah. ^18 (N)So Solomon made all these utensils in great quantities, for the weight of the bronze could not be determined.

¹⁹ Solomon also made all the things that were in the house of God: the golden altar, ^(O)the tables with the bread of the Presence on them, ²⁰ the lampstands with their lamps of pure gold, ^(P)to burn in front of the inner sanctuary in the way prescribed; ²¹ the flowers, the lamps, and the tongs of gold, that is, of purest gold; ²² and the snuffers, the bowls, the spoons, and the firepans of pure gold; and the entrance of the house, its inner doors for the Most Holy Place and the doors of the house, that is, of the main room, of gold.

The Ark Is Brought into the Temple

5 ^(Q)So all the work that Solomon performed for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the ^[n](R)things that his father David had dedicated, the silver, the gold, and all the utensils, and he put them in the treasuries of the house of God.

^2 (S)Then Solomon assembled at Jerusalem the elders of Israel, all the heads of the tribes, and the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, ^(T)to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord up from the city of David, which is Zion. ^3 (U)All the men of Israel assembled themselves before the king at ^(V)the feast, that is in the seventh month. ⁴ Then all the elders of Israel came, and ^(W)the Levites picked up the ark. ⁵ They brought up the ark, the tent of meeting, and all the holy utensils that were in the tent. The Levitical priests brought them up. ⁶ And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who had assembled with him before the ark were sacrificing ^[o]so many sheep and oxen that they could not be counted or numbered. ⁷ Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim. ⁸ For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its ^[p]poles. ⁹ The poles were so long that ^(X)the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; and ^[q]they are there to this day. ^10 (Y)There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt.

The Glory of God Fills the Temple

¹¹ When the priests came out from the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard ^(Z)to divisions), ¹² and all the Levitical singers, ^(AA)Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and kinsmen, clothed in fine linen, ^(AB)with cymbals, harps, and lyres, standing east of the altar, and with them 120 priests ^(AC)blowing trumpets ¹³ in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the Lord, and when they raised their voices ^(AD)accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other musical instruments, and when they praised the Lord saying, “^(AE)He indeed is good for His ^[r]kindness is everlasting,” then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, ¹⁴ so that the priests could not rise to minister because of the cloud, for ^(AF)the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.

Solomon’s Dedication of the Temple

6 ^(AG)Then Solomon said,

³ Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. ⁴ He said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, and fulfilled it with His hands, saying, ⁵ ‘Since the day that I brought My people from the land of Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, so that My name might be there, nor did I choose a man to be the leader over My people Israel; ⁶ but ^(AH)I have chosen Jerusalem so that My name might be there, and I ^(AI)have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’ ^7 (AJ)Now it was ^[s]in the heart of my father David to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ⁸ But the Lord said to my father David, ‘Because it was ^[t]in your heart to build a house for My name, you did well that it was ^[u]in your heart. ⁹ Nevertheless you shall not build the house, but your son who ^[v]will be born to you, he shall build the house for My name.’ ¹⁰ Now the Lord has fulfilled His word which He spoke; for I have risen in place of my father David and sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord ^[w]promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹¹ There I have placed the ark ^(AK)in which is the covenant of the Lord, which He made with the sons of Israel.”

Believers United to Christ

7 Or do you not know, ^(A)brothers and sisters (for I am speaking to those who know the ^[a]Law), that the ^[b]Law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? ² For ^(B)the married woman is bound by law to her ^[c]husband as long as he is alive; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law ^[d]concerning the husband. ³ So then, if while her husband is alive she ^[e]gives herself to another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress if she ^[f]gives herself to another man.

⁴ Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also were ^(C)put to death ^(D)in regard to the Law ^(E)through the body of Christ, so that you might belong to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. ⁵ For while we were ^(F)in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were ^(G)brought to light by the Law, were at work ^(H)in ^[g]the parts of our body to bear fruit for death. ⁶ But now we have been ^(I)released from the Law, having ^(J)died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in ^(K)newness of ^(L)the ^[h]Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

^7 (M)What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? ^(N)[i]Far from it! On the contrary, ^(O)I would not have come to know sin except ^[j]through the Law; for I would not have known about ^[k]coveting if the Law had not said, “^(P)You shall not ^[l]covet.” ⁸ But sin, ^(Q)taking an opportunity ^(R)through the commandment, produced in me ^[m]coveting of every kind; for ^(S)apart ^[n]from the Law sin is dead. ⁹ I was once alive apart ^[o]from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin came to life, and I died; ¹⁰ and this commandment, which was ^[p](T)to result in life, proved ^[q]to result in death for me; ¹¹ for sin, ^(U)taking an opportunity ^(V)through the commandment, ^(W)deceived me, and through it, killed me. ^12 (X)So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

¹³ Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? ^[r](Y)Far from it! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by bringing about my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

Prayer for Protection against Oppressors.

A Prayer of David.